Improved Upper Wharfedale Museum, Grassington, attracts more visitors (From Craven Herald)
Get involved: send your pictures, video, news and views by texting CHNEWS to 80360, or email
Improved Upper Wharfedale Museum, Grassington, attracts more visitors
9:00am Sunday 21st October 2012 in News
Richard Clare outside the extended Grassington Folk Museum
Crowds of visitors have flocked to Upper Wharfedale Museum, Grassington, since the first phase of improvements was completed in July.
Since reopening, the folk museum has welcomed 2,800 visitors – and that compares to 3,333 for the whole of last year, including the Dickensian Festival.
The figures were reported at the museum’s annual general meeting.
Chairman David Pritchard said a decision had been taken that, in view of the state of the museum, not to charge admission but to ask for donations.
“Looking back now, this seems to have been a stroke of genius. Donations have at least kept pace with admission charges and may have slightly exceeded them,” he said.
The improvement work had included raising the roof to create the new Crowther Room.
The second phase of the project is to refurbish the museum, develop the archive and put in place more volunteer recruitment, community participation and training.
Tribute was paid to Tony and Angela Astell-Burt, who died before seeing the project fulfilled.
